Funding available

Guarantee loans for Estonian small businesses. The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Coop Pank signed agreement to provide EUR 16 million for Estonian small businesses. In accordance with the agreement, the EIF will allocate 8 million euros to Coop Pank for a maturity period of 10 years while the bank is to add the same amount of its own contribution, which means that financing options in the total amount of 16 million euros will become available for Estonian companies.

EIF and SBCI triple new financing for Irish SMEs to EUR 330 million. The European Investment Fund and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) have tripled their finance for Irish small and medium-sized enterprises with a new increase to EUR 330 million. This deal means that from 2018, in total, an expected 10,000 companies in all sectors across Ireland will have access to additional funds.

EU policies for better business

New rules for organic farming. An agreement on new rules for organic farming was endorsed last week by European Council representatives. The new rules will simplify and harmonise many of the rules covering organic food production both within the European Union and in non-EU countries.

Digital Single Market: EU agrees to end unjustified geoblocking. The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission reached a political agreement to end unjustified geoblocking for consumers wishing to buy products or services online within the EU. The new rules will boost ecommerce for the benefit of consumers and businesses who take advantage of the growing European online market.

Drones: European Commission coordinates sector-wide efforts to offer commercial services in 2019. The European Commission, national authorities and the industry endorsed the "Helsinki Declaration" aiming to deliver advanced drone operations safely and securely in Europe. This Declaration identifies three priority areas for sector-wide cooperation in order to ensure that safe commercial drones operations are up and running by 2019.